Leonie

“ There are others to whom you are necessary. Leonie, I must tell you, great sin though I am committing in doing so. My darling, I love you with all the soul in my body, with all the strength of my being. Can you not see it? Do you not know it? Leonie, what have I said to cause you to look at me like that?"
"You love me?" she whispered, the words more a breath than an articulation—"you love me?"
"Dearest, can you doubt it? I know that I am the greatest scoundrel living, to tell you so. But how can I see you in such distress and not speak, when my heart is full to overflowing? ”

“ They were mad indeed the people, but none so mad as Leonie as she stood with feet apart glaring down at the ayah's sleek head, which she held by the hair, in one hand.
So mad was she that the priests drew back as from one divine; all but the high-caste youth who stood unnoticed amongst them and who advanced one step as Leonie raised her face to the moon.
"She of the full moon," she chanted, "was the first worshipped one with depths of days, of nights. They who, O worshipful one, gratify thee with offerings, those well doers are entered into thy firmament!" ”

“ Keenly intuitive, as are all the peoples of India, she had crept noiselessly across the matting and crouched at Leonie's feet in her desire to be near the beloved child in her distress.
There was a heaven of love and a world of indecision in the monkey eyes, but not a trace of fear when the beloved child suddenly twisted the sari from about the sleek head and pock-marked face and shook her violently by the shoulder. Instead she rocked herself gently to and fro, crooning in the toneless cracked voice of the native woman who tends a white child and loves it. ”

“ The light of his religion flared into a flame of love and passion almost uncontrolled when Leonie, lifting the chick, stood by his side in the full light of the moon, with a smile of welcome on her lips, and the light of unholy knowledge in her eyes.
Quite close to him she stood with one hand upon his arm, as he hung garlands of scented flowers about her neck, and then with a little beckoning gesture was gone; and the ayah crouching on the floor, beat her withered breast with her withered hand, a world of doubt in her monkey eyes. ”

“ Slowly he bent still closer, and gently put one hand upon the gracious curve of her slender throat; and Leonie, wanton, seductive, bewitched Leonie smiled as she too whispered in the tongue of India's holy writ.
"Let yon man love me; being dear to me let him love me; ye gods send forth love, let yon man burn for me.
"That yon man may love me, not I him at any time, ye gods send forth love, let yon man burn for me!" ”

“ Leonie, what is it?"
"I cannot tell you," she cried hoarsely. "I entreat you to leave me! I will tell you that there is a shadow upon my life, the knowledge of which reached me within the last few hours, that has forever wrecked my happiness. There is no relief that can ever come to me but death! If I love you, it but makes the curse the greater, and the assurance of reciprocation is anguish!" ”

“ Handsome men are an everyday sight in India, but this man was as the gods, and Leonie, beautiful, drugged Leonie, looked at him from the corner of her eyes as looks the wanton, and laughed.
"I will not kiss thee," he whispered, watching the colour sweep her face at his words, and smiling at the thudding of the heart beneath his hand. "Nay, I will not bruise thee nor cause thee blemish until the purdah hangs between us and the world. Look not at me thus-wise, and lift not the glory of thy lips, for I will not seize thee as a beggar seizes upon the pice. ”

“ And naturally Leonie had responded to the mastery in the voice, as all women do respond when the voice is the right one; and a soft wave of colour swept from chin to brow as she turned from the gate, and walked through the doorway straight to her bedroom; while her future lord pranced furiously among the bric-a-brac, and her aunt's beads and bracelets clashed against the china as she wrung her hands over the tea things, and portending disaster. ”

“ Youth had mocked at experience, life at death, love at opposition, as it has done since the beginning of time, and will do, let us hope, until the end.
For as the knife hurtled into the shadows, Madhu bent swiftly and lifted Leonie into his arms, holding her in this his last moment of heaven upon earth, tenderly and firmly, as he glared defiance over her head at the priest. ”

“ Leonie was standing knee deep in a pool.
The saw-edged rocks rose behind her, shining like steel in the moonlight; great strands of seaweed swirled about her, for all the world like snakes, weaving in and out of the burnished hair which spread itself fanwise on the water about her knees.
Save for the thinnest, finest silk bathing dress which clung to the perfect body, as does the soft fragrant skin to the peach, she was nude, and so unaware of eyes upon her that the man held his breath, fearing she might spy him in the shade. ”

“ Love or religion? Who knows!
Are they divided by much more than the breadth of a hair?
Leonie turned and walked up the steps, the wet heavy sheeting hobbling her about the knees and ankles, clinging to her as the skin to the peach, her dripping hair making little pools of holy water upon the holy steps; until, standing upon the one where lay the little crumpled heap of her silken sari, she unplaited it and shook it out in the night breeze. ”

“ For the first time the glazed eyes filled with tears, but they did not fall.
"It is very like—her," she said, slowly. "Oh, dad! what have I done that God should send a curse like this upon me?"
"Hush, dear! You must not question the wisdom of God. Bear your burden meekly, and He will help you in the end. Oh, Leonie! why would not you let me save you?"
"I could not, dad. You must not blame me. What right had I, the daughter of a thief——"
"You shall not say that—she was your mother! Listen to her story, and see if you cannot find an excuse for her, even as I did. Listen, Leonie! ”

“ Leonie grasped the hand and shook it. There were tears in her voice and in her eyes, tears that were the result of hysteria.
"I have been fighting with a maniac," she exclaimed, hastily. "For God's sake look!"
She had glanced up at the window through which she had escaped, and as she did so the street lamp showed her the figure of a woman standing in it.
"Don't jump, Liz! Don't, for the love of Heaven!" she shrieked, wildly. "You will kill yourself! There is no rope to save you, and there would not be a chance! Oh, Liz, for God's sake go back!" ”

“ A nebulous gleam of light from an almost exhausted candle fell upon Leonie and Liz as they sat silently in the room where Dick lay in a disturbed slumber.
He had been placed upon the almost comfortable bed that Ben Mauprat had used as his exclusive resting-place, and appeared more comfortable than they could have hoped.
An old-fashioned clock upon the mantelpiece tolled the hour of two, and, with a shiver of horror and dread that she could not control, Liz drew nearer to Leonie.
"You go to bed," she whispered in a tone that would not disturb the child. "You must be almost dead!" ”

“ She looked back over her shoulder, stared hard for a moment, and then, tearing herself free, ran like a hunted deer through the crumbling doorway into the blackness of the temple.
"Who fears, O Woman?" whispered the man, whose beauty touched the unseemly as he sank to the ground. "Who fears?"
Half-way up the temple Leonie stopped, standing in a silver pool of moonshine which blazed like the blade of a knife through a hole in the roof; lighting up the ruined altar, the grass-grown stones, and the image of a female deity carved in bas-relief upon a huge block of granite. ”

“ She had meant to say disgrace, but the word was drowned in a horrible groan. She fell into a chair, and holding to the back buried her face upon her arm. Lynde Pyne stood beside her. He laid his hand upon her bowed head, and smoothed the soft hair caressingly.
The expression of his face was one of keenest pain.
"Leonie," he said, pausing between each word as though to control an almost irresistible desire, "you must not speak with such despair. You are not—alone. If a steadfast friendship—the love of a—brother—will be a consolation to you, I offer you myself. Leonie, little girl, trust me." ”

“ Leonie heard the closing of the door, and entered immediately.
How dreary and desolate it seemed!
Deliberately she had cut herself from him, leaving herself absolutely alone, with not one human being that she could call her friend.
A great pity for herself surged into her heart, pity for the loneliness of her situation, for the isolation that had been thrust upon her through no fault of her own.
She sat down for a moment, burying her face in her hands; then she lifted it, ghastly with fierce determination.
"This is no time for inactivity or irresolution!" she cried passionately. ”

“ Am I not beautiful? even as beautiful a male as thou art a female? Would not the days and the nights, the months and the years be as heaven—together? Love me—nay! say but that I may call thee wife. Give me thy promise and I will save thee!"
"Save me?—from what?"
Leonie turned and faced this splendid lover, shivering slightly as a low moaning wind rustled the leaves of the trees and stirred the undergrowth.
"Even from death!"
"Death?" she said quietly, looking straight into the man's eyes. "Death—for me? Why I thought I was being willed to the temple to make sacrifice to your god?" ”

“ With a sudden movement Leonie wrenched herself from his arms and on to her feet, whilst a driving cloud surrounded them, and a growl of thunder came over from Lundy Island way.
"Love you!" cried the girl. "Yes! I love you, if that is the right word to describe what it is I have in my heart for you. No! don't touch me! Listen, I would live for you, die for you in love. Pain through you would be joy, joy through you would be heaven." ”

“ Before Kingsley had an opportunity to reply, Miss Chandler had sprung by him and had caught Leonie's hand in an iron grasp.
"You must be mad!" she whispered hoarsely. "Think what you are doing! You lose every possible hope! There is no doubt but what we can escape if you will only help me. For God's sake keep your wits about you and do the thing you contemplate only when you are overpowered and forced to yield."
But Leonie had no idea of considering any such advice.
She perfectly realized there was not the shadow of a hope for them, and she wanted to preserve that marriage certificate. ”

“ Leonie, don't look like that! Oh, child! if I might only bear it for you. You must not send me away, dear! There is so much to be done, and I must do it for you. Have you no woman friend?"
"No. Dad and I have lived all alone, caring only for each other. Oh, dad! ”

“ Leonie lifted her head for half a second, showing her face deathly white, the crimson line of her beautiful mouth and the shadow-encircled eyes emphasised by the dark green silk lining of her topee.
She glanced quickly at the dignified figure beside her on the pavement and looked away.
You do not, as a rule, recognise people you have met in your sleep; neither had her memory been impressed with the passing glimpses she had caught of the handsome face in the British Museum and during the chotar shikar. ”

“ Leonie tried to speak, and failing, nodded her russet head.
"Even so, it is the mark of Kali which the priest cut upon thee and me, uniting us all those moons ago in the Mother."
She turned completely round and faced the man with a little look of wonder in her eyes.
"I have so often wondered about the—the little mark," she said. "But you see—how could I marry you—I could not, do not—love you!"
"Love," he said quietly. "Love! Thou wilt love me, aye! thou wilt love me in thy waking hours, even as thou wouldst have loved me in thy sleep if—if the gods had not intervened." ”

“ Oh, girl, do you know what that means to me? Have you any idea what it means to be all alone in the world with a weight like that upon your conscience?"
"Hush!" cried Leonie, earnestly. "You have not killed Ben. You have only stunned him, and if he returns to consciousness to find us still here, I would not give much for any of our lives. Do you hear me, Liz? Do you not see the necessity of our taking Dick away before he returns to life?" ”

“ And Leonie lay quite still; to all appearance dead, with her open eyes turned back beneath the lids and her mouth half open showing her even teeth.
Not a word passed between the two men as they fought for her, one for her life, the other for her death. This way and that they moved; the one trying to escape from the direct range of the relentless will-power, and yet keep himself between the girl and the religious fanatic; the other striving to press his opponent back even to the altar stone. ”

“ He had just raised his hand to touch Leonie, praying to heaven for the girl's reason, when she suddenly flung back her head.
Up through the house-top, to the stars, the heavens, rushed the terrible cry, wailing as wails the wolf who has lost its mate, insisting as insists one who has staked his all on one final throw, imploring as implores the mother in the last dire throes of childbirth. ”

“ A score or more of natives in their vivid colours, which seem so atune with all that has to do with love, mattered not at all; but Leonie turned and pointed casually to the Devil, enjoying his matutinal bath, as the boy flung himself from the discredited polo pony on which he had done his best. ”

“ But even as the elephant threw the man upon the ground, and placing his foot upon his head, tore him in twain, Leonie wrenched herself free, and flinging up her arms to the moon, laughed and laughed until the night echoed and re-echoed with the horrible sound, stopping only when the smothering folds of the cloak were thrown about her. ”